Varian - The MBE GEN II - Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Summary : Not many commercial machines get more exotic than this. It even looks like something out of StarTrek.

Not many commercial machines get more exotic than this. It even looks like something out of StarTrek. When first introduced by Varian it held great promise for manufacturing. Just imagine all the things one might do with single-molecule sheet films, or even thicker films laid down molecular-layer by molecular-layer, or perhaps even two-dimensional magnetic domains and crystals.

But the promise never led to manufacturing fruition so that while the tool remains an important research instrument in today’s laboratories, it adds little to the bottom lines of mass production.